Norwich v West Ham United FC

Arran H wrote:

Campo wrote:bloody hell we need to get a grip, 7 points from 4 games, we are a promoted club, this is not the championship anymore
3 clean sheets in the prem !!! out of 4 games .. when was the last time we had that!!

I`am not saying we have had a crap start I`am more then happy with our start to the season however I expect us to beat teams like norwich not be happy for a draw .
and as you say 3 clean sheets in 4 games is a brilliant start for our defence

With Sunderland and QPR next I expect at least 4pts maybe even the full 6pts out of those two teams

we get 6 points i will be over the moon,, that a third of the points we need in only one sixth of the way through the season

Hull 4 - 0 millwank

Campo wrote:just to give it a bit of ballance ... Arse 4 -0 Saints

Campo wrote:Hull 4 - 0 millwank

......Can't wait to see Adkins squirm on MOTD

Don't think squirming is in Adkins vocabulary.

I think we must not expect to beat "teams like Norwich" to quote Arran. It would be nice to beat them and at home I would expect us to. Norwich are no mugs and Chris Hughtons sides are always difficult to break down. This is the Prem and all the teams have decent sides - including us when they re all fit. FFS don't start getting on the teams back already. God knows what the reaction is going to be when we play the big boys.
Rant over.
Well done the lads on their 3rd clean sheet out of 4. Built from the back Sam- now get the forwards going eh.

I'm with Nicki

we should not only expect to beat teams like Norwich... we should actually beat them.


i don't care if we're propping up the Blue Square premiership or Isthmian League... teams like Norwich, etc should be the places where you pick up the points, easily or not.

that's just the way life needs to be

the fact they out did us 16 shots to 4 just goes to show how poorly we managed today's game.

Cole up front is not a good option - at all. And if this was his response to being dropped and seeing how well Carroll lifted the team then I'm afraid no matter how much of a nice guy he is... he should quit football as his main employment and just do it for shits and giggles in the sunday league.

I don't give a shit about us being newly promoted

I don't give a shit about Norwish or Chris hughton being wily foxes and difficult to beat.

life is very simple... you beat the teams like norwich and you hope to get a point and an occasional victory against the likes of the Arsenals, Liverpools and Chelseas.

Anything less and your a perennial struggler at the wrong end of the table.

Yes, a clean sheet was exactly what the doctor ordered... and thank fcuk we got one... cos it was our only option for getting a point out of today's game.

A bit harsh Monkey Boy! You should never expect anything in football.

As I said, we should be giving ourselves a better chance, against teams more on our level and in time I believe we will. Life is not simple, but football can be, and winning your home games and drawing away always used to be good enough. Except for Swansea, where we shot ourselves in the foot, we have accomplished this so far. 16 shots to 4 only proves that we defended more than we attacked, which you would expect away from home.

I agree with you about Cole though, and I reiterate, He is not and never will be a striker.

the winning home and drawing away mantra used to w**k fine in the olden days... then they changed things to 3 points for a win... then you're actually better off winning half your games and losing the other half.

and I accept that there's no 'easy' games in football... although you'll never convince me that a half decent team shouldn't beat the likes of Norwich on a regular basis (no offense to Norwich)

I think what gutted me most about today's game was Carlton Cole. True, I've never been a fan of his as a player... but sure;y... he must have seen the Andy Carroll performance against fulham... he must have seen how well Carroll linked up with the rest of the team and how his distribution actually went to west ham players...

and then he turns in a performance like he did today? Is he crazy? He's lost his starting place... he's only being picked because of injuries and he plays like he's either guaranteed a starting place until hell freezes over or he just doesn't give a shit whether he plays or gets frozen out in the reserves...

I just don't get it

A point away from home is a good result in this league.

That doesn't mean I'm not disappointed about the result though.

Jussi still worried me, there were a few times catching looked easier than just trying to slap the ball away.

Demel scared the shit out of me every time a Norwich player went near.

Why play O'Brien at left back when George is on the bench ? O'Brien is always going to try and come inside on his right foot, any opponent with a brain is going to know that.

Vaz Te and Taylor were just passengers today, floating around with no real
Impact.

Cole was a complete waste of a shirt, he done nothing apart from get a knock and get subbed.

Our crossing today was a complete and utter joke, the worst I think I've ever seen in a match. Time after time the wrong decision made or the cross being completely fucked up.

Glad I got that off me chest.

Vas was awful, he gets greedy at times, and Cole did do something else Daz, he was caught offside

As for the crossing, that's what we got Jarvis for. Was he on the bench because he is coming back from injury, and why does Noble take corners when Jarvis is eventually on the pitch?

Carlton Cole is a waste of a space and I bet other teams piss themselves laughing when they see Cole on the team sheet because i know i would !! The sooner we get Carroll back the better for us

Maiga should get a chance after Coles performance today.

Mike small should get a chance after Cole's performance today...

I am with Kray Jr on this one

Yes, a point away from home is not to be sniffed at. However.............it is papering over the cracks

If Norwich had decent strikers we would have lost that game. Both our full backs are poor. One lacks technical ability and both lack pace. Reid and Collins have looked pretty solid so far but they have not faced ONE decent striker yet. When Berbatov came on for Fulham he pretty much did what he wanted and set up chances for Duff and Rodallega which they didn't take

Taylor laboured from the kick-off and RVT has looked disinterested all season. We really may as well put a tree up front rather than Cole. He seems incapable of running, jumping or working the channels. BOTH keepers are not good enough. Jussi flaps and slaps at things he should hold on to. His kicking is awful. To top it all he does not command his 6 yard box at all. Right at the end when Norwich had a couple of corners the ball was in the air around the 6 yard line and he stood rooted to his line. Collins had a go at him about it, quite rightly

Let's play a left back at left back (George McCartney). Let's play a winger who can beat his man and cross a ball (Matt Jarvis). Let's play a player who can create things (Yossi) and not one who seems to be living off his Championship exploits (RVT)

It should be Taylor and RVT on the bench and not the two players who are head & shoulders above them ability-wise

Yes, having those players on the bench means we have a "strong looking bench" but I would rather start with our strongest team and get the game won rather than having to rely on them coming on and saving the game for us

Assuming Matt Jarvis and Yossi Benayoun are now fit I would like to see them in the side from the start. Maiga deserves a chance in Carroll's absence too

I admire BFS's loyalty to players but it is going to cost us big time as soon as we come up against a decent side

I think some of you are being a bit hard on our team from yesterday.
I was a bit disappointed we did not end up with all 3 points but we could have ended up with nothing at the end. Draw was a fair result.

Cole was disappointing but can do better and I think he and Sam know this. Would have liked to have seen Maiga given a chance.

VazTe was very guilty of not making correct decision which could cost him his place.
Don’t like O’Brien at left back but felt in the end he did not do badly, Demel pace worry me.
Our goalkeeper cannot kick a ball out when it is passed back to him and I do have a big question mark on him playing premiership football. Might be a bit past it now.
Taylor again was a waste of space and would rather have Benayoun or Jarvis in the team.
Still a point away from home is not bad, there is a long way to go and we must understand that our squad on the whole is middle of the road.

So Charlie, after saying "some of us" were being harsh you go on to voice the same concers that we have?!!

No not really.

I would not just throw Cole and Vaz Te on to the scrap heap or anyone else.

We can only pick from the squad we have and Sam needs to pick his best team. He see them in training and make his decision from this, we don't so do not know any internal problems there may be.

Happy with the point yesterday but not happy with the performance , Jossi and his clearing the ball was atrocious and we was lucky a few times when the ball went straight to a 6 fingered fucker . Cole had a terrible game and the sooner we get Carrol back the better . the performance in general was such a difference from the last game , Sam needs to drop a couple a start with Benayoun and Jarvis

I thought RVT was alright yesterday , he did cause problems for norwich but for some reason like other players in the team yesterday the crossing was awful ,
Iam all up for BFS sticking with players he knows etc but I dont understand why he plays Cole when we have Maiga who I think given a run in the team will score alot of goals this year but I can see what happen to Maynard and Baldock happening to Maiga tbh tho I hope i`am wrong !

I would like to see this team line up against Sunderland next saturday : 4-5-1/4-3-3
Jaaskelainen,Demel,Reid,Collins,McCartney,Jarvis,Nolan,Noble,Diame,Benayoun,Maiga
BENCH:Henderson,Tomkins,Diarra,Taylor,Vaz Te,Cole,Hall
SUB 1: Take off Benayoun and Bring on Vaz Te for the last 20mins or so
SUB 2: Take off Jarvis and Bring on Taylor for the last 20mins or so
SUB 3: Take off Maiga and bring on Hall for the last 10mins or so

Thats what I would do for the Sunderland game next week if I was BFS

I must have a whole in my pocket, dropped two points.

Charlie Ham wrote:

Cole was disappointing but can do better and I think he and Sam know this. Would have liked to have seen Maiga given a chance.

that's hysterically funny... both know he can do better?

The guy has lost his starting place... the guy has been relegated to the subs bench because of a new signing. If the new signing wasn't injured he'd still be on the subs bench...

AND THAT WAS THE BEST HE COULD MANAGE to either stake a claim to a starting place or try for the team????

fcuk me... what kind of pussy-whipped, touchy-feely competition is bad for kids kinda nightmare are we living in?

Cole is shit.

He was given a chance to prove himself and stake his place in the first team against shit opposition.

And he was even more SHIT than he usually is.

He might be a nice guy in the real world... but in terms of football if that's his attitude and application - he really should hand back all his salary and go get a job somewhere else.

And if BFSA is any kind of manager at all then he should look at a player given that kind of opportunity and seeing the end result and realize that he's just been wasting his time and needs to look elsewhere.

There was absolutely no excuse for Cole's piss poor performance yesterday - and that's not just cos he's not my favorite player... it's because he's a finguck liberty.

Charlie Ham wrote:
Our goalkeeper cannot kick a ball out when it is passed back to him and I do have a big question mark on him playing premiership football. Might be a bit past it now.

And this is the essential difference between Juicy and Cole.

Juicy plays less than stellar... doesn't look brilliant... but still keeps a clean sheet. He does his job... maybe not flawlessly... but he does exactly what is required of him and ends up with the same result as the greatest goalkeeper of all time and best performance of all time... he kept a clean sheet... didn't concede a goal.

now Cole is the exact opposite... he doesn't play well, doesn't inspire confidence... and ultimately... doesn't do the job... doesn't score any goals, doesn't lead the line, doesn't create chances for his team mates...

So... two players that might not be the best...

But the outcome is completely different.

Charlie Ham wrote:No not really.

I would not just throw Cole and Vaz Te on to the scrap heap or anyone else.

We can only pick from the squad we have and Sam needs to pick his best team. He see them in training and make his decision from this, we don't so do not know any internal problems there may be.

Who suggested that? Cole has had 6 years of chances and frankly is not good enough. Maiga deserves to swap his place on the bench with Cole. Similarly RVT is not cutting the mustard so Jarvis should have his chance

Starting from the bench is hardly the "scrap heap" is it?

Just skimmed through this thread and find myself somewhat bewildered by the level of criticism. Just what are people expecting? We are a newly-promoted club with a decidedly average squad. Our manager's speciality is making hard-to-beat teams from fairly low-grade raw material, nothing more. Given that, there will be no easy wins for us in this league, and any point away from home is a real positive.
Four games, seven points and three clean sheets? From where I'm standing that looks like as good as it gets for some considerable time.I believe that BFS will keep us up with a decent margin of safety, but it won't be pretty and it won't be too much fun, and rubbishing the players won't improve things.

I think the issue Semi is a couple of things.

True... there's no 'easy' games in footballs any more...
but if I support England and we play San Marino... I expect us to win and by at least 3 or 4 goals... anything less is kinda unacceptable (apologies to San Marino)
If I support West Ham and we play Norwich... or Millwall, or Chester... or anyone outside of the top 6 in the Premiership - I expect to win, maybe by only a goal... but I expect us to win... a draw is acceptable... but not really when it's against a team with no wins this season.

The second thing is performances.

Like I said elsewhere... juicy can play less than stellar in goal... and the back four can be average, shakey... whatever... if the game ends and we haven't conceded... then they did what they need to do.

Up front it's a different story... a player like cole needs to score... otherwise why play them.

we played a bottom of the table side... and couldn't beat them. Cole was given a chance to show why he should be a real challenger for the centre forward position - and he fupped up.

That's why I think others had a problem with yesterday's game... I know it's why I did